Richardson residents now will be able to directly elect their mayor. Previously, the city council elected the mayor. Council member Amir Omar, who is running for mayor, recently announced he has received the endorsement of the Richardson Firefighters Association.

“During his two terms served on the Richardson City Council, Amir Omar has displayed the utmost leadership and professionalism needed to serve the role of Mayor,” the Richardson Firefighter Association said in a news release.

Omar is only mayoral candidate to have the support of two public safety organizations in Richardson. He’s also received the endorsement of the Richardson Fraternal Order of Police.

“It’s his tireless work ethic and commitment to protecting our families and businesses that has earned Amir the endorsement of the Richardson Fraternal Order of Police,” the organization said in a news release.

Tonight’s Richardson City Council work session will include a discussion about a senior citizen’s property tax freeze, an idea that council member Amir Omar proposed during his election run last year and discussed during this summer’s budget retreat.

Richardson City Council member Amir Omar is trying to get one of his campaign pledges through: a senior tax freeze. Changing the minds of a majority of his council colleagues, however, stands in the way. And by the end of the year, the issue should be resolved, but not before a fight.

Unless Omar can come up with something convincing in that time, at least four (and possibly five) council members today oppose enacting a freeze. Bob Macy, Steve Mitchell, John Murphy, Bob Townsend and possibly Mark Solomon are against it. Mayor Gary Slagel didn’t show his hand at last night’s budget retreat, but he’s OK with allowing city staff to continue to research the issue.

The initial numbers are staggering: Looking back 10 years, Richardson would have lost $12.3 million in tax revenue had a tax cap been enacted. But that didn’t satisfy Omar, who strongly chided staff for not presenting what he is proposing.

Omar said he’s heard some interest from people in getting community gardens going in Richardson. He said he’s working on a proposal to get the city involved (but not spend city money) and to get businesses involved.

My biggest question is this: Why does the city need to be involved at all? What’s stopping people from getting a community garden going on their own? On its surface, this just seems like something that, if people in an area want to do it they don’t need to look toward City Hall for help. And there are already resources out there for people interested in starting one.

But I’ll wait for Omar to come out with details, since he said he wasn’t ready to go public with the full extent of what he’s thinking.

Ian is up to his eyeballs on Other Stuff, so I’ll pitch in with a Richardson City Council blog post. Council member Amir Omar has been tossing out hints for a couple of weeks that he’s working on something hot. “My signature project,” he’s been calling it. To be revealed at the March 1 City Council meeting. Well, the agenda is out. And Ian has pointed me at what appears to be the big announcement:

“Tree the Town is a progressive tree planting initiative with the goal of adding 50,000 trees to Richardson.”

To which I ask: Seriously? That’s the big deal? A Richardson-specific ongoing Arbor Day (Or Tu B’shvat, if you are really Old School…)? Does Richardson have a tree shortage? It’s not like it’s the plains of North Plano, after all. I’m as big a fan of trees as the next person, but this seems sorta like having someone hint over and over and over that a steak is coming and then you get salad…1:-{)>

Amir tells Ian, however, that 50,000 trees is worth $34,000,000 — and will not cost the city a dime up front. And it’ll be a volunteer effort. So hey, I like salad…

If you hadn’t heard, Richardson council member Amir Omar ran in yesterday’s Marine Corps Marathon, in part to finish another 26.2 mile race and also to support another passion of his, cancer research. He’s gotten Methodist Richardson Medical Center to be a charity partner of the marathon.

He told writer Debbie Fetterman that he wasn’t running the race for time, but how did he do? Not so bad. His clock time was 4:33:14, with a chip time of 4:29:09. He finished 9,205 of 20,936 overall.

(One of the 9,204 ahead of Omar, by the way, was fellow reporter Jessica Meyers, who covers Frisco schools. She ran under four hours, impressive for a first-timer.)